a thornless rose
by Sonslover101
Summary: Addison takes in a shadower named Rose, 16. After finding out she is pregnant, she must navigate life with not one, but two children's future to plan for. She makes it, all thanks to a thornless rose.


I close my computer and sit back, my hand moving to my stomach. The possibilities swirling in my head are insane, I can't stop thinking. But before I can think too hard rose comes in and sits down next to me. (Rose is a student from the high school, she's taking a can class and needs hands on experience, so she's been shadowing me. But, over time we've become extremely close) "hey girly" I say with a smile. "Ugh, grey won't shut up about her date and George and Izzie are arguing about stupid shit, just another day at Seattle Grace." I laugh, knowing is true. "You sound like you've been here as long as me" I say. She catches my hand skid across my stomach as another thought pops up, and I remember she can't see me with a hand on my stomach, obviously. "So when are you going to tell me? She says and I smile."How did you know?!" I say with a laugh. "Every time I walk in here your hands drawing circles on your stomach and you're off in another world, probably a world of baby names and diaper costs" damn, I have to admit she got it right on the dot. " yeah, 8 weeks" she smiles as I open my arms for a hug. She's an amazing hugger, that's one thing I won't deny, and with how stressed I've been lately, it's nice. "Congrats Adds, I'm really happy for you. I just wish I'd actually get to see everything happen, but you know my class is over at the end of the month." I look at her, knowingly. "Hon, you really think you're getting away from satan? I've talked to ellis, and as you know she absolutely adores you, so she's having you stay to shadow more and get some more experience. She said she'd be willing to hire you in the gheriatric wing. You'd be cleaning up shit and barf, but it's a job" I smile at her as a big grin comes over her face. "Are you serious?" "Of course! You're just about all I have. You're going to be the one to hold my hair up when I puke, spoiler alert it happens often. And the one to tell me I'm showing, the one to feel the first last and middle kicks, and the one holding my hand when this little one comes out." A tear comes to both of our eyes, we don't normally get this deep. "Well, then it's set, I'm your person" she says. I smile lightly. "Yeah, you're my person"

It was a long day. Running from neonatal to my office to surgery and everywhere in between. This stress cannot be good, I think to myself. I walk in and see arise sitting at her computer at the desk. "What are you working on?" I ask " ugh, this 50 slide project on premature babies death rate over the years." I cringe a little. "Oh yeah, that doesn't seem like much fun" "yeah" I put my hair up and sit down next her. She looks at me for a moment and finally, says "I need to ask you something that I'm very embarrassed to ask" oh god, she's gonna ask who the father is. "Okay" I say. She paused, and I see a tiny tear form in her eye. "Is there any chance I'd be able to stay with you, just for a night?" I'm surprised, at first. "1. Of course you can, 2. Why?" She looks at the floor, almost in embarrassment. "My parents kicked me out a few nights ago, we don't get along and I guess they just didn't want a daughter anymore. I've been sleeping in my car the past few nights, but with how cold it's supposed to be tonight I figured I'd need a real place to stay." Her words touch me. "Why didn't you tell me?" It takes her a minute. "I-I was embarrassed."I open my arms a bit, seeing her need. She happily accepts and falls into me. I run her back as a little tear trickled from her eye to my skin. "And you're not just staying a night, you'll stay as long as you need to"

We get home, and I apologize for the mess. "So damn busy with work" "are you kidding me? This place is perfect!" I laugh at her excitement". I'll show you the guest bedroom" after a bit of her getting comfortable, she walks out to find me making dinner. "I can order a pizza for myself if you'd like" I look at her with crazy eyes. "Girl, are you kidding me? As long as you're in my home I will feed you. Stop worrying about being a bother, I told you, you're my person." I can see that my words eased her. There's soda in the fridge if you want some" she walks over and grabs a coke. "So what are you making?" " just some spaghetti, nothing too fancy" I say. If you want to chop up some peppers, maybe some onions" she happily obliged and grabs a cutting board. We continue to cook as we talk about work, her future and what she wants for it. After a while I get that familiar feeling, and tell her I'll be back. I would expect most people to steer away from the puking woman, maybe be grossed out. But Rose came in and sat next to me, rubbing my back. I begin to say I'm sorry but she cuts me off. "Don't worry about it"

After our dinner we sit down in the couch and turn on the game. She scoots down next to me and I open my arm for her to lay. We sit watching and talking, we talk about the baby, and some important things to know. She already knows all my problems, and how amazing this child is. She pokes my flat belly and laughs. "It's hard as a rock" I laugh. "Yeah, it's supposed to be like that. It'll get softer as it grows." She nods with a smile. We stay like that for a while, but soon she decides its bedtime. "I'm going to go to bed, I'll see you tomorrow" she says giving me a quick hug. "Alright see you tomorrow hon"

I walk out of my bedroom into the kitchen and see rose staring at my stomach. "What?" I say clueless. She walks over to me and places a hand on it." You have a bump!" She says, almost squeezing with excitement. I didn't see it before, but the right dress I'm wearing is showing it all, including… other things that have grown. I place my hand over hers and smile. "Look at that" I say. Thank goodness I've already told everyone, because if they didn't already know, they'd certainly know now.

"Alright we've got someone downstairs with a 6 week early premie, lung issues. A mother with possible preeclampsia, blood pressure through the roof." I rush down the hall a little too fast and next thing I know I'm falling to the ground. I get up and the pain is certainly there, in my shoulder thank goodness. I brush it off and continue to the neonatal surgical room. There are many spectators today, but luckily I don't crush under pressure. The surgery lasts a long 8 hours, and I'm absolutely dead by the end of it.

I walk back to my office and sit down, ready for the day to be over. It's only 2, which means I still have a few hours, but i'm thinking of leaving early. I look down at my belly and notice it looks even bigger than it did this morning. I remember that tomorrow is my 16 week appointment, hopefully we can see the baby. I smooth my hand over the small bump and i'm right back to where I was 2 months ago, caught in my musings of my childs future life. But, as luck would have it, it seems there are 2 children I have to worry about now. Rose comes busting through the door, tears streaming down her face. She grabs her bag and jacket and runs out. "Wait! Rose?" I follow her down the stairs before she yells at me to stop running, it's not good for me. I stop, feeling breathless and tired. I sit on the step and try to figure out what's going on. I don't know if she's mad at me or someone else, or why she's crying. I walk the rest of the way down and see her walking to the car. I swipe my pass and walk out. "Why are you running away?" I shout at her. "Just leave me alone, you don't want me anyway" I know she meant you don't want to talk to me but, it still comes out the other way. She opens the door and sits down, shielding me from seeing her face. I open up the drivers side and sit down. She's bawling, uncontrollably as i open my arms and she falls into me. I give her the top of her head a kiss and quietly say "Baby what's wrong?" it takes a minute for her to stiffle the crying, but finally she says muffled through my sleeve. "It's my parents" I know what she means. "What did they do now?" "I got a call from my grandma, she and I are pretty close. She said that she heard all about what's going on, and that she couldn't believe what I had done. I said what the hell did I do?" And her response was that apparantly, I had run away." I told her the truth and she thought I was lying, my own fucking grandma has turned on me because of my god damn parents, and nobody wants me. So i'm driving home, getting my stuff and i'm leaving, because clearly i''m a burden to everybody." It takes me a minute, to form what I want to say, but every bit of it is true, and I know it. "Honey, you are not going anywhere. I don't know what I do without you, you have been there for me these past few months, and kept me sane." It sounds cliche and stupid, but as I say it I start to tear up. "You wake up in the middle of the night when i'm sick and sit with me, you remind that even though I feel like I look terrible i'm beautiful, you keep me happy about this baby, and promise me that you'll be there when it's born. Because if you're not there when this child is born, I will have noone, and I don't know what i would do without my person." We're both crying at this point, the moment catching up to us. As she opens her mouth to speak I feel a flutter. It's barely there but still makes me jump. I am utterly speechless as Rose looks at me. "What?" the look on my face says it all. I grab her hand knowing she won't be able to feel it yet, but it feels right in the moment. "The baby just moved" I whisper. She releases the tension in her hand and I can feel the excitement in her eyes. "Really?" "Really…"


End file.
